


Confrontation

by painted_in_ink



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Crack, F/M, Fluff, Kylo Ren Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 11:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17527964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/painted_in_ink/pseuds/painted_in_ink
Summary: This is me playing with possible ways episode IX could go without killing off Ben.It's fluffy, cute, and honestly something close to what my Reylo heart needs to be okay with whatever they do.





	Confrontation

**Author's Note:**

> NO force-bonds in this one, what a surprise!!  
> (Don't look for the other characters, they're barely there.)

“Rey,” Finn gave her a tortured expression. “As much as I want to believe that what you’re saying could actually be true, you can’t honestly just expect us to let you walk out and face this guy—"

 

“—Alone,” Poe interjected, sounding every bit the old, tired sarcastic leader. Leia would have been so proud.

 

She was about to protest, but Rose stepped in before she had the chance. “Poe is right, Rey.” She touched her arm for emphasis. ”You have to let us have your back. We’re not leaving you.”

 

Rey groaned. They really were too much. “You guys are making my job so much harder, you know that?” She said, turning and breaking into a sprint. She switched the safety on her blaster, knowing she won’t need it where she’s going. Her friends followed, in spite of her protests.

 

“Ben!” She shouted as she rushed out onto the main platform of Cloud City, wind whipping against them. Her friends checked the perimeter and alerted the other resistance members to their location.

 

There, he was right where she thought he’d be.

 

When he heard her voice, he turned and found her eyes instantly. He huffed out a sigh. “You.”

 

Amazing. After all this time, he still had the ability affect her like that— those sad, longing eyes, jaded slightly, no doubt from their inability to reconcile this rift between them; stopped her in her tracks, made her question how she ever could have left him in the throne room that day. She took a deep breath. There. That man; That achingly real person behind the mask; She knew that she had to get to him and that this may be her only chance.

 

“Don’t do this, Ben.” They could still fix this if he could just listen. He hadn’t pulled a weapon on her yet, at least that was a good sign. He scoffed.

 

“Do you really think so little of me?” He inquired, both of them taking painstakingly measured steps toward each other. So, the bond made them just as apt to read each other in person, regardless of how little they had tried to use it in their time apart.

 

In a gesture that surprised her, he unclipped his saber and tossed it off to the side, in the middle of the distance left between them.

 

“What do you need to hear, Rey?” He eyed her warily.

 

“Do you need me to tell you that I’m sorry? That I wish things could have been different? That I have seen the light?” His tone mocked her slightly but didn’t possess the full venom she knew it was capable of. It was more disbelief and tiredness, at this point. She watched him, waiting.

 

…

 

Ben knew he didn’t have much time left.

 

As it was he was already not likely to live through what he was going to have to do next to destroy Hux. That man would raze the galaxy in a heartbeat if he didn’t do something.

 

Even still, he waited just another moment. After all this time, it turned out that only for her, he’d still do ridiculous things just to risk it all on what she might do next. Hopeless, that’s what he told himself about it. This girl, woman now, he reminded himself sorely, was going to be the death of him, somehow.

 

“You idiot.” He blinked. Okay, he hadn’t been expecting her to say that.

 

“I’m starting to think _you're_  the one with the issue of letting go of the past!” She stepped up in his space and carefully exposed her saber, handle backward, no longer a threat. Then, a flick of her wrist landed it right next to his.

 

Whatever she was going to say, it appeared she’d been stewing about it for a while.

 

“I think it’s time the Supreme Leader—” she emphasized sarcastically, jabbing a finger at his chest, “takes his royal head out of his ass long enough to make an unbiased assessment of his resources. Hux is minutes away from stealing the Order out from under you. Were you prepared to handle that threat alone, or would you maybe like to think about enlisting some help?”

 

There she was, in his face like old times. He’d like to say she no longer had the power to make him doubt his chosen course of action, but it just wasn’t so. Damn the force and damn Luke for calling it. The crabby old Jedi might still have had some wisdom left in him.

 

“Can we work together or not?” She demanded.

 

“For how long, exactly?” He returned. It was a loaded question.

 

“As long as it takes.” Long enough to rid themselves of their common foe, she left unsaid.

 

He nodded.

 

She didn’t leave their first face to face meeting in a year at that, though.

 

As if dealing with a private matter, she stepped an infinitesimal amount closer and dropped her voice low as if she were sharing a secret.  
“I will ask you this, Ben. You’ve asked me to rule at your side before, which to me also meant guard it. Why would you hesitate to trust me now?”

 

Rey had always known that his place in the war would not be as her enemy, but that they would one day come to a point that the would fight side by side again.

 

She trusted him. She believed in what she saw in him.

 

Ben stared at her.

 

Her implications about the intimacy of their connection surprised him. He’d believed all this time that she had purposely closed the door on their relationship the day she’d left, he hadn’t believed that she still harbored concern or care for him.

 

Now she was insinuating that the trust he’d given her and vice versa was something that couldn’t be so easily revoked.

 

As much as he didn’t like it, he knew what he was going to do.

 

…

 

They ran through the halls of the cruiser, dodging blasts and Force-shoving troopers into walls.

 

Now all they’d need was a distraction.

 

By the look on FN-2187’s face, he already had the perfect one in mind. Rose followed after him, Poe guarding their six.

 

That left him and Rey.

 

He grabbed her arm, stealing her attention away from the stormtroopers for a moment. He didn’t want to lose today. But if he did he wasn’t taking her with him.

“Buy us some time.” He whispered to her, before taking off towards the bridge.

 

….

 

If it hadn’t been for Rey's friends, this never would have worked.

 

They didn't win without casualties, though.

 

He stood over the remains of the Late (Usurper) Supreme Leader, looking from his vantage point on the bridge at all the chaos this uprising had caused.

 

The First Order had torn itself apart, dividing itself from the inside out.

 

There was hardly anything left now.

 

He briefly considered what a simple farm life would have been like.

 

…

 

When he went looking for her after, he was pleasantly surprised to find that she hadn’t left yet. Her friends floated outside in orbit, waiting for her do finish.. he didn’t know what. She was sitting on his throne, deeply reminiscent of how he had nearly begged her to join him all but two years ago.

 

Her grin said she knew exactly what she was doing.

 

“So,” She began… Pretending to study her nails.

 

He nodded. “Hux is gone…” He said, watching her.

 

“Mhmm..” She contemplated. “So… What are the chances of you starting a new republic and putting me and my friends on the council?”

 

His eyes went wide at her suggestion. She had gotten up then, and start walking in his direction, though he remained stationary on the steps.

 

“You do realize that would require rebuilding the entire order from the nothing that—“ He quieted when she pressed a finger to his lips, slipping the other arm around his neck. With the way they were positioned now with him on the steps, she was taller than him.

 

“Okay, before this whole conversation dissolves into political nonsense... There's something I have to do that I should have done a long time ago.”

 

What was this weird feeling he felt on his face.. was he smiling?

 

He was pretty sure he was, at least until she kissed him. After that he became preoccupied.

 

He had just discovered how warm the inside of her mouth was, and was about to teased it with his tongue when that damn pilot's voice broke through and ruined their moment-- He'd forgotten about the communicator she wore on her hip. “Alright, alright! Get a room! You know the one you guys are standing in is _made of glass_ , right? Chewie’s gonna throw up, over here. And honestly, I’m not that far behind.”

 

Rose and Finn giggle could be heard in the background.

 

“Perhaps we could make a compromise," he said after a minute, and the embarrassment had ebbed.  "Like for the time being you can have all the power, and they can be _your_ counsel… Except for Dameron, he gets a job far, far away from here, where I never have to see his face--” She giggled, understanding that he was only jesting. Mostly.

 

Then he remembered the thoughts that nearly saved his life earlier today, and became more serious. “I’ve actually been considering what it would be like… To leave all this behind and try out a more simple life. Would you be interested in joining me in that endeavor?” She smiled at him, her eyes nearly answering for her, but then a shadow fell on her countenance. “But what will happen when we leave?”

 

He had to think about that. Then his thoughts drifted to that annoying General… and he found an answer that he could live with.

 

“Let Dameron figure it out.” He told her. 

 

Her answering smile was all he needed.

 

…

 

“You sure about this? I don’t know how I’m gonna be able to do all this without my right hand.” Poe made a show of displaying his new prosthetic, which had melded to him nicely, given the small amount of time since it happened.

 

She laughed. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Finn and Rose are here to support you, and we won’t be gone that long. Besides… if you really need to reach us, we could always leave you a map.” She joked. He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Honestly, Poe. If you need us, we’ll be sure to find you.”

 

He met her eyes. “I know.” This time his smile was for real. Their hug was brief, but comforting after all the chaos they’d been through. Honestly, their friendship had come a long way.

 

After Rey said her goodbyes and was about to board, she turned and watched with a bit of longing at the thought of leaving behind the first family she had ever known. Ben appeared behind her, a gentle hand on her back as he asked if she was alright.

 

She flashed sparkling eyes at him. “Sure.”

 

His smile warmed her heart. “We’ll be back.” He assured her.

 

With one last wave, they closed the ramp and prepare to fly off into space.

 

Hopefully to a planet with a lot of green and waves, but not too much rain.

**Author's Note:**

> Bloopers  
> ……………………….
> 
> He rested a hand on Poe’s shoulder, about to admit that he was glad Leia had found the son she’d always wanted… “You know, I—“  
> Poe’s foot suddenly slipped on the grassy incline, and Ben accidentally looked in the camera after they all started laughing.
> 
> *Beep* 
> 
> “Tape, marker.” And, action.
> 
> “Finn!” Rey shouted, grabbing his arm, about to give him a serious look. At just that moment she slipped then righted herself, though part of the blaster in her arm came loose and crashed to the ground. 
> 
> As the camera panned back and they laughed, General Hux could be seen making faces and doing a jig in the background foyer.
> 
> *Beep, beep*


End file.
